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Topic: Battle Report: Heirs to Empire (Read 471 times)

This is my latest game I have been working on. I have always enjoyed the Diadochi or Successor period after Alexander the Great's death. There are a number of interesting characters, political intrigue, and lots of battles between skilled commanders. What is not to like for a wargamer? This is an attempt to create an ancients wargame that is focused exclusively on this Diadochi period. It doesn’t even include the Epignoi so it is hyper-focused.

The bulk of the rules are a riff on my Men of Bronze rules for Greek Hoplite warfare. However, there are various tweaks to match the strategy and tactics of the time. For example, this is a game of battles and units. Things like in and out of Phalanx and battle formations are abstracted. It is assumed all unit commanders have put their troops in the right formations for the job.

Instead, this game focuses on unit vs unit in order to get the best unit combined arms formations to win. It is about charging, supporting, and flank attacks. In addition, there is an element of command and control by using the Commander’s Gaze dice to influence the flow of the battle at critical times and places on the field.

The units in the game tend to be abstracted. Most armies of this period had similar elements and components. The trick was when and how to use them. The abstraction of units allows for the players to focus on other aspects of the game play such as supporting and flanking. In addition, armies were organized into wings and the armies in these rules are intended to mirror this approach.

The game also take inspiration from Warmaster Ancients, Hail Ceasar, Lion Rampant, Sword and Spear, DBA, and various other ancients rulesets. This game is so new that it is not even in the Work-in-Progress section of the Blog for you to try yet. I am still working on the mechanics and deciding what I want it to do and how. Once they are fleshed out further, I will make a WIP available for you to try. In the meantime, I figured I would let you in on the play-testing.

Eumenes had once been the secretary of Alexander himself. He was not Macedonian, but his position provided him great privilege and respect amongst the troops. He was a well-known general in his own right.

After Ptolemy stole Alexander’s body and spirited to Egypt The Regent Perdiccas organized an expedition to punish the upstart Diadochi. He gathered an army and marched towards the Nile. Perdiccas charged Eumenes with protecting Asia Minor from the greedy Antipater and Craterus from attacking out of Macedon and Greece. To aid him, Perdiccas placed Neoptolemus the Satrap of Armenia under Eumenes’ command.

However, Neoptolemus had his own ideas. Instead, he had sided with Antipater and Craterus. Instead of joining Eumenes, he intended to attack him. Eumenes learned of the Satraps plan and marched his army out to punish the upstart. The battle for Alexander’s empire was about to begin.

Mission:This is a standard battle. The object is to break the enemy force by the end of turn 8.

Set-up:Today we are using a 6x4 table. It is set-up as the steppe of Turkey. Historically, Neoptolemus was supposed to support Eumenes in the defense of Asia Minor from invaders from Macedon. Instead, he turned to Antipater and Craterus in Macedon. In response, Eumenes marched to face the Satrap. Today’s battle is to re-fight this battle, but few details survive other than the outcome.

The center is relatively flat and open, and good place for Phalanx combat. The North has a series of rocky outcroppings to block LOS and make movement more difficult. The South flank has an oasis and the ruins of an old town. This will also serve to block hinder or block movement.

At this point, it is more likely that the Silver Shields would have been deployed with Perdiccas in Egypt. However, to avoid confusion I am placing them with Eumenes, the commander they followed after Perdiccas’ death. I addition, Thureophoroi were probably not developed until a later date, but they serve essentially the same role as Hypaspists in Alexander’s army with slightly different gear. Therefore I am using them here to represent the Hypaspists likely found in Eumenes army instead. Beyond these details little is known about the actual composition of either army in the historical battle.

Eumenes deployed with his Thureophoi positioned on the outside of the center just ahead of his Phalanxes. His wings were deployed close to his center to support.

Neoptolemus had his phalanxes in a line with the Bronze Shields in the center. His right wing was in echelon and ready to support he center, while the left was deployed outwards for a flanking attack.